The Sprout
Platinum Beacon,
June 2022
The Newsletter for North Hinksey & Botley
Issue 169 July 2022
The Sprout
The Newsletter for North Hinksey & Botley
Directors: Janet Bartlam, Judi Bolder, John Clements,
Michael Cockman, Ag MacKeith, Robin Palmer
Editor
Ag MacKeith
South View House, Old Botley, OX2 0JR Tel: 724452 Editor@TheSprout.org.uk
Advertising Manager
Michael Cockman
50, St Paul's Crescent OX2 9AG Te l : 07766 317691 Adverts@TheSprout.org.uk
Deliveries
Jan Shirley and Isabelle Hayes
9, Sweetmans Road OX2 9BA 07706 606719 Deliveries@TheSprout.org.uk
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Subscriptions: If you live outside North Hinksey Parish you can still receive The
Sprout on a regular basis. Just take out a postal subscription only £12 per annum,
delivered to your door. Contact: Carol Kramer 01865 243002.
Whilst every effort is made to ensure the accuracy of information printed in this
newsletter, mistakes may happen. The Editor and Team apologize unreservedly for
any errors that may occur and will do their best to correct them. This publication is not
a vehicle of the parish council, and parish councillors working with the Sprout do so in
a personal capacity. Opinions expressed are the opinions of the individual
contributors.
All concerned in the production and delivery of The Sprout are unpaid volunteers.
The Sprout is printed by Dataprint Ltd, and published by North
Hinksey Parish Publications Ltd, (a company limited by
guarantee) Registration No. 05609535.
It can also be found online at BotleyHinksey.org.uk
The Sprout
Issue 169, July 2022
Contents
3 Letters to the Editor
Oxford Area Quillers
Bring and Take
5 Botley in Bloom winners
11 Skatepark Latest
15 Botley Medical Practice
17 Jubilee Beacon Party
19 Jubilee at the Lunch Club
21 West Way Jubilee Festival
and Local History exhibition
27 Jubilee Street Parties
31 District Councillor
Planning Apps
33 The Romance of Oxford
34 All Go at Botley School
35 The Big Plastic Count
36 Roger Smith at Botley Arts
37 Randoms
39 Local Organizations
From the Editor
Most of this month’s Sprout is a record of the many and varied local
responses to the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee. Pages 17 to 29 cover the
Beacon Party, the West Way Festival, the Local History Exhibition, the
street parties even the Lunch Club had a special meal. We won’t soon
forget the excitement as the beacon flared into the night it doesn’t
happen very often! It was great to get together and enjoy the simple fun
of shared celebration, and it was well recorded by local photographers.
Thank you, Miles Gomme, for the picture on the cover and thanks also to
everyone else who sent in photos. There have been other things going on
too: we are happy to announce the deserving winners of Botley in Bloom
2022 (p5), the prizes (thank you NHPC) will be presented on 3rd July. The
Botley Medical Practice now has a new practice manager (p15); the
Skatepark designs are nearly finished (p11); and Chris Andrews, living
locally but globally famous for his beautiful photos of Oxford, has a
special offer for Sprout readers (p33). The Big Bring and Take on 9th July
(p3) gives us a chance to recycle things we no longer need. It’s the
Sprout AGM on 14th August up at the Pavilion a chance to thank all the
people who make it happen (p38). Summer holidays are coming up our
next issue will be in September. Have a good summer!
Ag MacKeith
Letters to the Editor
Plaudits
I would like to say a big THANK YOU to all the wonderful people who
worked so hard to make the fantastic Jubilee celebrations.
Also for the excellent work done by the litter pickers.
Kathleen E. Cattell
I have been in Botley nearly 12 years now and I have always found all
the Staff at the Botley Medical Practice to be very friendly and efficient.
Adam Hardiman
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Oxford Area Quillers
Quilling is an art form that involves the use of strips of paper that are
rolled, shaped, and glued together to create decorative designs. The
paper is rolled, looped, curled, twisted, and otherwise manipulated to
create shapes that make up designs to decorate greetings cards,
pictures, boxes, eggs, and to make models, jewellery, mobiles,etc.
We will be holding an Open Day with workshops, showing how you
can use quilling alone, or with other crafts you might already do. There
will be cakes for sale, etc on Saturday 30 July from 10:30 am until
approximately 3pm (drop in and drop out as you please) at the WI Hall
in North Hinksey Lane. Just come to look, browse, chat, or to buy, or
just to see the hall’s new extension. We would love to see you all. If you
would like more information you can email me on angelaarnold@aol.com
or phone 01865 244265.
Angela Arnold
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
GREAT BOTLEY BRING AND TAKE
ST PETER AND ST PAUL CHURCH HALL
SATURDAY 9TH JULY Bring from 10 am, Take from 10.30.
All over by 12.30. NO RUBBISH! Janet.e.hemingway@gmail.com
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Botley In Bloom 2022
Many thanks to all those who
took part in this years Botley in Bloom
Front Garden competition. After a slow
start, Jubilee Bank Holiday enthusiasm seemed to prompt
a flurry of entries! The diverse planting was more impressive
than ever this year, and the combination of sun and rain has resulted in
a riot of colour in our gardens. We saw so many pretty gardens, and
with the roses in full bloom we had a hard job to make decisions.
However, I am delighted to announce the winners in each of the three
categories as follows:
BEST OVERALL FRONT GARDEN
1st prize 3 Halliday Lane. John and Vicci Fleming have turned a
rectangle of lawn into a beautiful crevice garden with a winding gravel
path, inspired by RHS Wisley. The creativity and design are most
impre s s iv e !
2nd prize 94 North Hinksey Lane. The appropriately named Phil
Bloomer’s front garden has a real ‘wow’ factor, with a riot of colour. He
also scored very highly for the environmentally sympathetic planting
the judges felt it was a close run thing for first place.
Highly Commended 13 Maple Close. Andrea Flear’s lovingly
created front garden is beautiful with a great mix of plants and colour.
BEST CULTIVATED-WILDLIFE FRONT GARDEN
1st prize 1 St Pauls Crescent. Rebecca and Fred Walker have
designed a lovely front garden which supports a lot of wildlife, including
a good-sized pond, grasses, and trees. We loved the planting.
2nd prize 36 North Hinksey Village. Chris & Elaine Sugden take
full advantage of the stream running alongside their property and the
judges really like the native plants and wild flowers that grace its banks.
If anything, the garden looks even better than last year when they won
this category!
Highly Commended 9 Sweetmans Road. Jan Shirley’s front
garden is delightful with the ‘lawn a mass of marjoram.
Highly Commended 30 Cope Close. The wildlife friendliness of
Linda Losito’s garden is lovely and very worthy of a second Highly
Commended rating.
BEST JUBILEE HANGING BASKET OR WINDOW BOX
1st prize 31 Chestnut Road. Ilaria, Thomas and Julia Yeomans
have created an ingenious rain-water harvesting area with decorative
window boxes on the front. They are to be complimented also on their
environmentally-friendly off-road parking.
There were no other entries for this category.
Our thanks go to LeoQuent for kindly sponsoring the cost of posters and
North Hinksey Parish Council for providing funding, allowing us to
award prizes and certificates to all first and second places. National
Garden Scheme vouchers of £30 will find their way to first prize winners
with £20 vouchers for second place. Highly Commended places will
receive a certificate. Prizes will be presented in the garden of 23 St
Paul’s Crescent on Sunday 3rd July.
Most of all, my fellow judge Jan Bartlam and I wish to thank everyone
who entered the competition, with special congratulations to all those
whose hard work and imagination give so much pleasure to the rest of
the neighbourhood. We really enjoyed looking at all the front gardens
and especially meeting some of you on our way round.
Viv Smith
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Botley Bowl Skatepark
On Saturday June 4th, Botley came together to celebrate the Queen’s
Jubilee, and with bunting flying and skates on, we presented the latest
proposals to the general public for the new Botley Skatepark.
At our stall we were met with the excited faces of children peering over
their own boards, out from under oversized helmets, parents in tow. It
was two girls, Sky Brown and Bombette Martin, who represented Britain
at last year’s Olympics in skateboarding and, well, why couldn’t we find
the next one in Oxford?
Well, we can’t if we don’t have parks! It was heartening to speak to the
community in Botley about this project and the feedback was
overwhelmingly positive and supportive. Here are some of the
comments:
This would be a really good local resource. My sons are 10 and 11
and would love to be able to learn locally, as we do not drive.”
“It would be nice to see a skate park somewhere near where every-
one lived. Please make this happen.
“What a great plan. This would be such a great place for people,
young and old, to socialize and enjoy a fun hobby.”
“I THINK THIS WILL HELP PEOPLE LOCALLY GO OUTSIDE AND
GET OUT MORE!” (this from a wise child!)
We are really
grateful to North
Hinksey Parish
Council for providing
this welcome local
facility. The project is
now well under way.
Canvas Spaces
have been chosen
as the contractor
who will provide the
park, and their first design, which was a mass of billowing curves, is
being revised by our core design working party of users and their
parents.
The first version of the design is above, the second version, has more
differentiated sections. As you can see from the image, it retains the
bowl element that
references our famous
earlier park, but has
acquired a flat space
for street skating (and
little kids on scooters)
and a mini-ramp off to
the side for less
experienced skaters to
practise tricks and kids
on BMXs to have fun
away from the main
action. The two parts are much the same size despite the image above),
and the whole park is being tailored to fit in behind the play equipment
on the site of the old bowl.
The core group of users will finalise the design very soon, and then it
will be time to go for planning permission and start raising the money.
It’s not going to be cheap, and we’ll need all the help we can get!
Follow us on Instagram at @botleyskatepark for updates, or keep on
reading The Sprout, another proud part of our Botley Community.
Georgia Wren
Botley and Kennington Patients Participation Group
On May 19th the PPG executive met with Pete Culley the new Practice
Manager of the Botley Medical Centre. His career experience is as a
practice manager in dentistry, work for BUPA as an area manager and
operations manager. He has most recently worked as practice
manager at Southam.
He told us that he had prepared a lot of practices for Care Quality
Commission visits and saw his role as ensuring that they got to ‘good’
or above. He has developed an action sheet for what needs attention
and will seek to ensure that everything is in place before the next CQC
inspec t io n , due in June or July. His post is full time: he will spend th re e
days a week in Botley and two in Kennington. We learned the new
BMC website should go live by the middle of the summer.
The PPG Executive discussed the following points with him:
How he sees communication and consultation with the PPG;
The need for 6-monthly meetings of a monitoring team, which
includes the PPG, to keep progress on track;
Securing test results and where tests take place;
Issues around securing appointments;
Developing a practice newsletter;
Holding ‘face-to-face’ PPG meetings in the surgeries, along with
technological support to enable them to be ‘hybrid’.
PPG is now holding meetings face-to-face, and he made clear his
intention to attend.
Chris Sugden (Secreta ry)
Jubilee Beacon Party
Thursday June 2nd 2022 was the day our community began a weekend
long celebration commemorating the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee. The first
event of this four-day party was our Community Beacon Party, held on
the Louie Memorial playing fields. The high point of the evening was the
lighting of the magnificent beacon at 9:45pm, our link in the chain of
1500 beacons, lit simultaneously across the UK and beyond.
The LM Pavilion, MUGA and playing fields, festooned with rows and
rows of bunting, hand painted by pupils of all the local schools, hosted a
Tap S o c i al p o p -up bar, a BBQ courtesy of the 15th Scout Group and a
‘Down the Decades Disco’. People brought picnics to share, and some
even made the Jubilee Tart, specially devised for the celebration, as
promoted in The Sprout.
By eight o’clock the playing field outside the LM Pavilion was packed
with eager beacon-ites. It’s hard to put an exact figure on the night’s
attendance but estimates range from 400-1200 people, young and old,
royalists and revellers, but all wonderfully patient and good natured.
Sightings of some super fifties, sixties and
seventies fashions were rumoured among
the throng. These photos (thank you, Miles
Gomme) record a
couple of the more
memorable efforts.
The beer, burgers
and boogying kept
the crowds happy
until nine o’clock
when Philip
Powell’s bagpipes
played the candle-lit (er tealight in a jar)
procession across the field to the trail up
the hill. Oxford Harmony Choir were there
to welcome them with some rousing choruses. When the time came,
Sam Pogose sounded and resounded the fanfare, and our invited
igniter, Layla Moran MP, sparked up the beacon, making sure it was well
lit on all sides, to the joy of the cheering crowds.
Everyone launched into the national anthem as the beacon flared into
the night sky overhead. As the spectacular flames settled into a steady
blaze, we counted the distant sparks around the horizon that indicated
other beacons like ours the best
count showed seven of them, the
nearest on Beacon Hill at Farmoor.
Before very long the blaze
subsided, and people began to
make their way back down, very
grateful to the marshals whose
steady torches lit the dark path. At
the Pavilion they found a welcome
cup of hot chocolate waiting for
them. The last of the jubilee
revellers departed around eleven
o’clock.
It was a brilliant night, not only
celebrating the Queen’s remarkable
reign, but for many a celebration of
the rebirth of our community
activities, of getting together with
family and friends old and new, and sharing good times once again.
Ali Hogg
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Botley Seniors Lunch Club Jubilee Celebration
On Thursday, 26 May Botley Seniors Lunch Club celebrated the
Platinum Jubilee with a special
lunch. The menu was:
Gammon with Cumberland Sauce
Roast Potatoes and Mixed
Vegetables
Jubilee Meringue Nests with
cream, strawberries and
blueberries
The tables were decorated with
red table-cloths and napkins and
looked very festive.
Any enquiries about Lunch Club please contact Jackie Warner on
01865 721386.
West Way Jubilee Festival
So much happened at the shopping precinct on Saturday afternoon that
it’s hard to know where to start perhaps with the Bötley Crüe, who
fired up the party spirit from their first song. You can see accounts of the
Skatepark stall and the History
Exhibition on other pages, but what
about the Cake Competition? All those
lurid creations
ably ranked
and judged by
Kyle from the
Missing Bean.
Here he is,
and here’s
one of the
more regal
cakes.
Then there was Ali Hogg’s Stamp
Portraits (my personal favourite), where he drew round the shadow of
your profile, thrown against the back
wall of the hall by a strong torch. Then
you coloured it in and he applied the
perforations round the edge and there
you were, a modern Penny Black.
Here he is with one of the portraits:
And finally, among all the other
memorable acts Barricane, songs
from Stagecoach who could forget
the synchronized trampolining of three
women from Bounce Fitness, one of
whom somehow managed to keep
calling the moves all the time she was
jumping without ever losing her breath
or missing a beat. The kids loved it too,
bouncing along on their own mini trampolines. And did I mention the
Capoeira display? The children’s Treasure Hunt? The Henna painting?
The exhibition by Botley Arts? Well done, all those volunteers, and
particularly Lorna Berrett, recently honoured by Buckingham Palace for
her community work during the first lockdown, and the one person who
managed to keep all Saturday’s different elements in her head at the
same time! Ag MacKeith
Jubilee Local History Exhibition
With all of the Festival action going on outside Seacourt Hall on
Saturday afternoon, we initially wondered how much interest would be
shown in our rather more
sedate attraction inside.
We didn’t have to worry
for long as the space was
soon packed with locals
keen to find out more
about the history of Botley
over the years, with an
emphasis on the 1950s
and royal connections as
befits an event celebrating
the Queen’s Platinum
Jubilee.
Displays included slideshows on the Hall’s large screen of local
photographs from Victorian times to the present; a range of historical
maps of Botley from the 1760s through Ordnance Survey plans to the
intriguing Russian map of 1973; the disappearing world of the many
local landmarks that have been swept away over the past century; hot
topics locally in the post-WWII era before and after the Coronation (lots
of allotments, pig swill, housing, flooding, public toilets, and even a
proposed swimming pool); photos of locals meeting members of the
Royal Family and much more. The photo shows the authors of the
three parts of the exhibition:
Martin Harris (Royalty),
Malcolm Graham (maps and
the slide show) and David Kay
(parish council history).
There was even an informal poll
to gauge people’s opinions
about monarchs of the past
1,200 years (excluding the
current Queen). It clearly
showed the lasting impact of
the Tudors who gained almost half of the total votes across three
categories. The winners and some of the reasons given for choosing
them were:
Best monarch Queen Elizabeth I (mostly for initiating girl power
an early Ginger Spice)
Most interesting monarch King Henry VIII (also a strong second in
the most overrated category, lots of mentions of the 6 wives and
their fates, plus he ticked off all of the Seven Deadly Sins by the
end)
Most overrated monarch Richard I (the Lionheart, but other than
bravery during the Crusades he almost bankrupted the country
when captured and ransomed, he probably didn’t speak a word of
English and only spent about 6 months of his entire life here.)
The three of us certainly had an interesting time putting together this
exhibition, and from the enthusiastic response of the several hundred
visitors who took the opportunity to view all of the displays, it seems that
there is a much wider interest in this topic. Our thanks to the
Oxfordshire History Centre for supplying copies of maps and Henry
Tau n t pho t os, al so to Cu m n or & D i s tr ic t His t or y So c ie ty, retrowow.co.uk,
to all who provided photos, documents and reminiscences and to
everybody who came on the day.
David Kay
Jubilee Street Parties
The celebrations carried on over the weekend, with locally organized
street parties all around. Here are three The Sprout has been told of:
North Hinksey Village held its own Jubilee Party on the village green
on Sunday 5th. It was a bring-and-share do and included a jubilee trifle
(which did not take 14 hours to make). While rain threatened, it held off
till the clearing up had begun. Peter Skinner brought his Nostalgia
Travel double-decker Dennis Bus (used for wedding parties) as a refuge
in case it rained.
The highlight was Ukrainian singing by Natalia, who came to live in the
village a few weeks ago with her 12-year-old daughter under the Gov-
ernment's visa scheme. She is a school music teacher, and has been
given a home in the house of a member of the Cumnor Choral Society.
By a lucky chance, another music teacher lives in the house opposite,
who was able to accompany her on the cello, with a guitarist as well.
Natalia sang a couple of Ukrainian songs and then had the whole
gathering of 4050 residents singing a simple song in Ukrainian, about
a family with red hair starting with the Granddad. Once we had the
words and the tune she then had us clapping, and finally foot tapping as
well. She certainly knew how to work a crowd! Thankfully she stopped
before making us sing faster and faster!! She said that she had felt
welcome as
into a family.
Her husband
is still in Kyiv
in the military
The picture
gives a sense
of this festive
occasion.
Plants had
been sold on
the village
green over the
last two
weeks, raising
£100 for extra food for those looking after internally displaced people in
Ukraine.
Chris Sugden
Beech Road also had a party. Julie Watson sent this account:
The residents of Beech Road
came together for a jubi-
lee/po s t-Covid street party.
Although the weather wasn’t
very favourable, a bit of rain
couldn’t stop multiple genera-
tions of people (from just 11 weeks up
to the extreme age of the Queen!) gath-
ering to celebrate.
Reminiscent of times gone past, chil-
dren played for the first time together
along the empty street and live music
was provided by two of the residents.
Lots of lovely food was shared, Pimm’s and fizz were flowing and lots of
cake was eaten Pictures show Old and Young, the Musicians, and the lavish
spread
Finally, here’s an account of the goings on behind the Seacourt Bridge.
Poplar Road held a fabulous street party on Sunday 5th June. After a
long and lovely weekend of Platinum Jubilee celebrations, under skies
that threatened but did not deliver rain , around 30 neighbours
enjoyed each other’s contributions to the feast. We had the official
Jubilee pudding, delicious devilled eggs from our resident American and
a ‘scone-off from two houses on
opposite sides of the street. Rogue
republicans were tempted in when
passing for the odd piece of cake,
there was a promise to ‘regalise your
future’ from a monarch visiting from
centuries from now*, a new and
extremely cute puppy, and a whole
range of flags adorning the house of
Poplar Road’s very own vexillologist
(clue, Latin for flag is vexillum).
Zuhura Plummer
(*The Sprout can reveal further information on this interesting visitor
from the future, as follows: Another character gracing the party was
Quing Eli Zabeth Windsor, the current Queen’s great, great grandson.
He had travelled back from the future and was sporting a stylish take on
‘smart/ casual’: dinner jacket, bow tie and sarong.”)
From Your District Councillor
Lots of people already do litter picking in our
community, helping to make Botley better.
Thanks for all you do!
This summer Vale are running a Litter Mapping
exercise. If you can let Vale know the sort of
litter you find, and where you find it, our clean-up
programmes can be more effectively targeted.
All the details are here, including an online form
to fill in. https://www.whitehorsedc.gov.uk/vale-of-white-horse-district-
council/recycling-rubbish-and-waste/our-litter-mapping-project/
Won't you check it out?
Councillor Surgeries: Residents from across North Hinksey parish
(including Parish Councillors of course) are invited to drop in and speak
to us in person at any one of our surgeries. Upcoming dates are:
Fri 15th July, 1:30-3pm , Pappo, West Way Square, Botley
Weds 7th Sept, 11:30am-1pm, The Flowing Well, Sunningwell
Sat 8th Oct, 10:30-am-12pm, Pappo, West Way Square, Botley
Sat 12th Nov, 10:30am-12pm, The White Hart, Wytham
You can also phone me on 07545 241013
Cllr Debby Hallett, Lib Dem member for Botley & Sunningwell Ward
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
LOCAL PLANNING APPLICATIONS
P22/V1130/HH
4 North Hinksey Lane. Rebuild existing
outbuilding as a workshop.
9 May
TDD: 4 July
P22/V1144/LDP
71 Arthray Rd. Change hip to gable loft
conversion with rear facing dormer.
10 May
TDD: 5 July
P22/V1156/HH
Material
Amendment to
P21/V1013/HH
23 Cumnor Rise Rd. Replace existing
garage & carport with timber-framed
ditto. Erect single-storey extension to
rear of dwelling & porch at front.
16 May
Target D ecision
Date: 11 July
P22/V1253/FUL
3 Laburnum Rd. Convert to 8-person
HMO, demolish garage, outbuilding &
single storey at rear. Erect 2-storey
side & single storey rear extensions.
19 May
TDD: 14 July
P22/V1262/HH
Grayflete, Vernon Ave. Extension and
alterations to existing dwelling.
20 May
TDD: 15 July
P22/V1182/HH
35 Montagu Rd. Single storey
extension & internal alteration of
existing semi-detached house.
25 May
TDD: 20 July
Chris Andrews and the Romance of Oxford
In June 1982 I walked into central Oxford with my newly produced
postcards in my hot little hand and approached half a dozen shops to
see if they would sell them. The cards featured my photography in what
I hoped was an attractive but atmospheric style. The then manager of
Blackwell dubbed them ‘The Romance of Oxford’. We still use this title.
The first deliveries were on 8th June 1982, a Tuesday. By Friday five of
the six shops had phoned me, having sold so many cards they needed
to reorder. Since then we have sold over 20 million postcards, around a
million books and half a million calendars. All using my photography.
I have photographed most of the Oxford Colleges as well as some in
Cambridge, photographed and published books on the Cotswolds,
Chilterns, Bath and Stratford, as well as the Channel Islands (including
decamping the whole young family for a year to live on an island),
established a publishing business in Belfast, been commissioned to go
to Chile for location work for a film, gone to the Falkland Islands for
work on a book and been to South Africa to launch a book of Botanical
Illustrations we had published for another company.
If you go to https://mailchi.mp/cap-ox.com/40-years-in-publishing you
can see a lighthearted little film piece on us as a whole.
To s ha r e t hi s a c hi e ve m e n t w it h r ea d e rs of th e S p ro u t I w o u ld l ik e t o o ffe r
15% discount until end July on all our products (except Limited Edition
books). Just email me at pictures@cap-ox.com or call the office on 01865
723404 quoting “Sprout”. To see our current publications please go to
www.cap-ox.com
Here is one of my pictures: Broad Street (minus cars)
It’s All Happening at Botley School
This term has seen the return of KS2
SATS, and a growth in after-school clubs,
which now include tennis, football, dance
and netball. We hosted and participated in
the local ‘Quadkids’ sporting festival, and
are sending our winning teams to the Vale
finals in Abingdon at the end of the
month! The highly popular Kindness and
Chess clubs are also up and running. In
fact we are starting to challenge other local schools to chess
tournaments so watch this space!
Some of our Year 6 pupils went to London to take part in ‘Young Voices’
at the O2, joining forces with 8000 other primary-age children to lift the
roof with their singing; Years 3 and 4 experienced a ‘Stone Age’ day at
Hill End; and the School Choir are getting ready to perform at the
Festival of Voices in Dorchester Abbey this month. The Friends of
Botley School (FOBS) organised our first School disco for a long time;
pupils across the school took part in magic lantern art workshops; KS1
were excited to get a visit from the author Mini Grey to talk about her
books; the Early Years pupils’ chicks hatched; and we finished the term
by inviting parents to our Jubilee celebration of country dancing,
culminating in a celebratory dance when pupils, staff and parents joined
forces on the playground a truly special moment when our community
came properly back together again at last!
We are now fundraising for a new Early Years play area at
www.crowdfunder.co.uk/p/botley-early-years-playground. It would be
wonderful if any ex-pupils, families, businesses or indeed anyone from
the local community were able to support us!
We are also on the lookout for new Play Workers for our Breakfast Club
and After School Club. Both are lovely part-time roles, ideally suited to
people who like children and (for Breakfast Club), getting up early! The
hours are 7:15-8:45am, Monday to Friday for Breakfast Club, and for
After School Club it’s 3:15-6:15pm, Monday and Friday only. The hourly
rate is £9.99, rising to £10.19. See www.botleyschool.org.uk
/vacancies for the advert, job description and application form. The
closing date is 11 July, with interviews on July 15th. Please get in touch
with business manager@botley.oxon.sch.uk if you’d like to know more. If
you know of anyone who might be interested, do tell them! Thank you!
Alex Neil
The Big Plastic Count
This has been sent in by a concerned local resident:
Did you take part in The Big Plastic Count (week of 16th to 22nd May)?
This is a collaboration between Greenpeace and the social enterprise
Everyday Plastic. The Big Plastic Count is a nationwide investigation
into what happens to the plastic that packages our food, drink, and
other goods after it leaves our homes.
Participants had to tally all the plastic packaging they threw away at
home, ideally for seven days, categorising it according to headings
provided by Everyday Plastic. The deadline for submission of individual
results was 31 May, and the overall results from around the UK will be
released in mid-July.
At the end of seven days of tallying my own waste I was shocked to find
my Botley household of two people had thrown away 93 items of plastic
packaging.
According to the organisers’ estimates, only 12% of all plastic waste is
recycled; the rest is exported, burnt, or sent to landfill.
This investigation is meant to send a wake-up call to government,
supermarkets, and big brands to take more action on plastic in the
environment. But is there anything Sprout readers can do to improve
their recycling scores? I look for recycling information on all plastic items
(sometimes having to use a magnifying glass) and also use paper
packaging wherever possible.
And someone else added:
I did the big plastic count too and was horrified that our household of
two used 88 items of plastic packaging despite my being careful to
avoid plastic whenever I can.
[It really is a big problem. I
checked www.oxfordshire.gov.uk
‘Waste Wizard’ to see if the Vale
would recycle the two sackfuls of
‘stretchy’ plastic in my shed. It
seems they do take it, but where
does it go after my green bin? Can
we be confident that it is actually
recycled? Ed]
Botley Arts features Roger Smith
For reasons beyond their control, Botley Arts was obliged to cancel the
Tereza Barnard exhibition announced in last month’s Sprout. Their cur-
rent exhibition is of works by Roger Smith.
I have been interested in photography since my teens, when it was part
of my work at the Royal Aircraft establishment at Farnborough. That
was when I built my first pinhole camera, completely fascinated by how
nothing more than a pinhole could pro-
duce an image. Camera Obscuras are like
pinhole cameras but with a lens. They
were used to observe eclipses, avoiding
the damage to the eye that can be caused
by direct observation of the Sun. They
were also used by many famous artists,
Canaletto and Vermeer, for instance, to
sketch out the scenes they wished to
paint. In Venice, I actually handled the
Camera Obscura that Canaletto used, and
I have followed his example by using it for
some of the pictures in this exhibition.
When I retired in 2000, I enrolled at Rycotewood College in Thame for a
two-year full-time HND course in Restoration Studies. For me it brought
together several areas of long-standing interest, in design, science, car-
pentry, art, and engineering. The HND course included time as an
intern at Oxford’s Museum of the History of Science, and I was able to
make a replica of a portable early 19th century Camera Obscura as a
final project for my course (see photo). I studied the history of this
appliance and have made several more. The Bodleian Library commis-
sioned me to make a working example for their exhibition on John
Aubrey, and I have also made some for the National Trust.
We are fortunate to have Marcus Hodge as course tutor at Sunningwell
School of Art. He is one of the UK's leading portrait painters, and
worked as war artist for The Times in Afghanistan. I was grateful for all
he taught me about oil painting techniques during lockdown. You will
find oil paintings in the exhibition, as well as pen and ink drawings.
I hope to include a short presentation of the Camera Obscuras and
paintings during my exhibition at St Peters and St Pauls with Botley
Arts. The exhibition runs from Monday 4th July to the end of August.
Randoms
West Oxford U3A Music Group
Did you know about the West Oxford U3A Discovering Music Group? It
is small, friendly and sociable. We meet at 2.15pm in our homes, usual-
ly on the third Thursday of each month to listen to recorded music,
mainly classical (including opera). We bring items which we enjoy and
think others will enjoy too, or find intriguing. In this way we have made
many delightful discoveries, and we freely express our reactions. We
often finish with something in lighter mood.
If you are interested or know someone who might be, please contact me
at grimshaw.johnla@btinternet.com or telephone 01865 861949.
John Grimshaw
Mosaic workshops
There will be 5 mosaic workshops at the Seacourt Hall on Thursdays
10am-12pm between 23rd June and 21st July. These are free public
sessions with artist Clare Goodall, and will form part of her mosaic
panels commission for public art in West Way Square. Participants will
be able to learn cutting and layout techniques to make mosaics to the
designs set out in the plans. Full guidance will be given. All abilities
welcome. Attendance is limited to
12 participants in each workshop.
Interested? Contact Lorna on
lberrett.n h p c @gma il.c o m
Natalia’s music lessons
Natalia is a music teacher from
Ukraine, living for a while in North
Hinksey (see page 27). She can
teach piano, ukulele and recorder,
but her main work experience is in
running group classes for all ages
using the Orff approach.
She’s hoping to find work teaching
group classes for parents with kids,
plus some private lessons. Don’t
miss this unusual opportunity you
can contact her via her mobile (with
its Ukrainian number): it is +380666
384453
Saturdads
This Saturday session for Dads and their young children is starting
again on 2nd July, 11-12 noon at Botley Bridges in Elms Road, and on
the first Saturday of the month thereafter. Just drop in there’s no need
to book. Further info from coordinator@botleybridges.org
Louie Memorial Pavilion Committee AGM,
The Louie Memorial Pavilion Committee invites you to its Annual Gen-
eral Meeting on Sunday 4 September at 3.30pm. Items to be covered
include the annual accounts, business during the year, and election of
members. The meeting will be an informal event, taking place during the
pop-up café. If you’ve been thinking about being more involved in your
community, do come along, as the committee is always on the look-out
for new members to bring fresh ideas to the forum.
Sprout AGM
This will take place at the Pop-up café on the Louie Memorial Upper
Field on Sunday 14th August, 3.30 pm. Do come and tell us what you’d
like to see in our friendly local mag, hear about the challenges we face
as Botley fills up, and get a sense of our likely future.
Cumnor Choral Society
The society had a joyful return to live performance during 2021-2022,
following the Covid lay-off. We performed Handel’s Messiah in the
Autumn 2021, followed in the spring of 2022 by Fauré’s Requiem and
Mendelssohn’s Hear My Prayer.
This Autumn we will be performing Haydn’s Harmoniemesse and
Vaughan Williams Fantasia on Christmas Carols Rehearsals will start
on 23rd September at Cumnor Old School, starting at 8 p.m., all
welcome. The performance on 3rd December will be at St. Peter & St.
Paul Church in Botley, conducted by Peter Foster, our musical director.
If you enjoy singing in a friendly atmosphere we would love you to join
us. A voice test is not required, just that you are enthusiastic about the
music. Each section has experienced singers who will be happy to
support you if you are new to choral singing. The choir sings a classical
repertoire drawn from both sacred and secular, with concerts twice a
year in the autumn and early summer. Rehearsals are once a week,
with breaks over Christmas, the school holidays and through the
summer (early June early September) For more details please
contact John May at john may@ b tin te r n e t.c o m or 07795 054142 or go to
cumnorchoralsociety.wordpress.com Steve Morrris
Organizations: If your organization is not listed here, please send details
to editor@thesprout.org.uk or telephone 724452 for inclusion.
Dean Court Community Centre Thur 67.30 Jean
Metson, firstbotleybrownies@g m a il.com
Rosary Room, Yarnells Hill. Tues 6:15-7:45 Alison
Griffin 2ndbotleybrownies@outlook.com
mail@thefourth.org.uk Website:
http://www.thefourth.org.uk/
Fridays, Cubs 6.30-8, Scouts 8-9.30, Pavilion, Fogwell Rd.
Amy Cusden (Cubs) 07887 654386, Tom Freeman (Scouts)
07837 623768 xvoxfordscouts@yahoo.co.uk
Tues/Thurs 9.1511, SS Peter & Paul Church Hall
Wants to connect Botley to Eynsham. Meets every 6-8
weeks. Contact via website B4044path.org
Free Library Service for housebound Ox. 248142
Brendan Byrne 792531
brendan.byrne999@gmail.com
Thursdays, 3.30 to 5.30 at St P&P Church Hall, West
Way, Facebook or email botleylarder@gmail.com
Second Tuesday in the Month, early evening.
Contact csugden@ocrpl.org
07922 849680. Open till 7 on Friday and 1pm on Sat,
otherwise 9.30 to 5.30 (closed Wednesdays).
Alternate Thursdays. Seacourt Hall. Jackie Warner
Ox.721386
Friday 7.45 to 9.45 pm John May 07795 054142 or
www.cumnorchoralsociety.wordpress.com
Thurs 79pm Cumnor Old School. Steven Bennett
01993 684494 www.cumnorchessclub.co.uk
Last Monday of the month 7.30-9.00 Cumnor Old
School. 01865 724808
http://cumnorgardens.org.uk/
or phone 01865 721026
Wed 7.30 at Appleton Village Hall. C. Casson 01235
831352 or harmonyinspires@hotmail.co.uk
Contact: David Millin on david.millin@hill-end.org,
call 863510 or visit www.hillend-oec.co.uk
Family club Email: Tennis@OxfordSportsLTC.org
Weds 2-3pm, WOCC, Emily 07969 522368 or see
www.emilyschoirs.co.uk
Barbara Brett 249599 or bag@cryhavoc.org.uk
North Hinksey Preschool
and Childcare clubs
MonFri 7.45am6.00 pm. Tel 794287 or email
nhps.manager1@gmail.com
N Hinksey Art Group
Weds 1012.00 W.I. Hall Christina 07931 707997
N Hinksey Bellringers
Contact: Ray Rook 01865 241451
N Hinksey Conservation
Volunt eers
Meets at weekends Contact Voirrey Carr
07798743121 voirreyc@aol.com
N Hinksey, Friends of
Annual Cricket Match/ Walk. Douglas Bond 791213.
N Hinksey Parish Council
clerk@northhinksey-pc.gov.uk
N Hinksey Youth Club
Weds at LM pavilion, Daz: 07791 212866 or F’book
Oxford Flood Alliance
R Thurston 01865 723663 or 07973 292035
Oxford Flower Arranging
Club
4th Thursday Cumnor. Dympna Walker: Ox 865259
Oxford Harmony
Wednesdays 7.30 9.30 pm at Seacourt Hall
Contact pro@oxfordharmony.co.uk
Oxford Otters
Swimming for people with disabilities. Sundays,
twice monthly. Contact: Alan Cusden 723420
Oxford Rugby Club
Boys and girls from 5, kevin.honner@ntlworld.com
Seniors, training etc jbrodley@chandlings.org.uk.
Raleigh Park, Friends of
raleighpark@raleighp ark.o rg.uk
Seacourt Hall Management
Committee
Contact Lottie White, 07452 960100, or see
https://www.seacourthall.org.uk
Shotokan Karate Club
6+ WOCC twice weekly
Martyn King 07836 646450
Stagecoach Botley
Seacourt Hall, Saturdays 9:00am3pm Performing
Arts for 4-16 yr-olds Oxf 590510 or 01235 390810
Well-Being Walks, Botley
2nd & 4th Saturdays 9.50 Louie Memorial Field car
park, Arnolds Way. Ashley 07717 714477
West Oxford Bowls Club
Dave Ellerker 07931 603801
wobc.membership@gmail.com
West Oxford Taekwon Do
Club
Mon, Thurs 6.30-8pm, MA gym, contact Chris Hall
01865 570291 www.wotkd.co.uk
West Oxford U3A
(Uni of the 3rd Age) http://westoxfordu3a.org.uk/
West Way Day Centre
Mon & Fri 103pm, Field House, 07740 611971.
oxfordshirehub@royalvoluntaryservice.org.uk
Womens Institute (Botley)
Alison Jenner 07598 251161
alisonjenner@yahoo.com
Weight Watchers
Thursdays 6pm at SS Peter & Paul Church Hall
Banso tel: 07779 253899 bansob@aol.com
Baptist Hall
1 Church Way
Contact: Diane Melchert 01865 243664
botleybaptistchurch@gmail.com
The Rosary Room
Yarnells Hill, Elms Rise
Contact Maria Brown,
Te l : 0 1 8 6 5 2 4 7 9 8 6 .
SS Peter & Paul Church
Hall, West Way, Botley
Contact: 01865 242057 or
osneybenefice@outlook.com.
Women's Institute Hall,
North Hinksey Lane
Contact: Val Warner
Te l . 0 1 8 6 5 2 4 5 2 7 3
Seacourt Hall,
3 Church Way
Contact: Lottie White on 07452 960100,
or email admin@seacourthall.org.uk
Pavilion, Arnold’s Way,
Elms Rise, Botley
Contact: Darren Blase 241254
louiememorialpav ilio n @gmail.co m
Oxford Rugby Club,
North Hinksey Village
Contact:. Mary Bagnall
mary.bagnall1@btinternet.com.
North Hinksey & Botley Churches
Times of Services (once resumed) and Contacts
St. Lawrence, Church of England, North Hinksey Lane
1st, 2nd, 4
th
, 5
th
Sunday 11 .30am Holy Communion
3 rd Sunday 11.30 am Matins
St. Peter and St. Paul, Church of England, West Way
Sundays 9.30am Holy Communion
Wednesdays 10.30am Holy Communion in Chapel of Holy Spirit
1st Saturday each month, 45.30pm Messy Church for children and carers
Rev Clare Sykes, Tel. 01865 242345 or revclare@btinternet.com
See table above for Church Hall enquiries.
Our Lady of the Rosary, Roman Catholic, Yarnell s Hil l
Saturday 6.30pm Mass
Sunday 9.15am Mass
Fr Daniel Lloyd 07584 323915 dlloyd@portsmouthdiocese.org.uk.
Botley Baptist Church, 1 Church Way
Sunday Service 11 am.
Wednesday Zoom Bible Study 7.30pm
Choir practice Thursday 2pm
Diane Melchert 07742 662668 www.botleybaptistchurch.org
Calvary Chapel
Sunday services held at Botley School 10.30 12 noon
Pastor Philip Vickery 01865 864498
calvarychapeloxford@yahoo.co.uk;
www.calvarychapeloxford.org.uk
What’s On
July
Sat 2nd 1112, Botley Bridges, Elms Road, Saturdads
Sat 2nd 46pm, Ss Peter & Paul, Messy church for children
Thur 7th 1012pm Seacourt Hall, Mosaic Workshop, also on
14th and 21st.
Thur 7th 12.30pm, Seacourt Hall, Seniors Lunch Club, also
21st, then summer break, resumes 8th September.
Sat 9th 1012.30, Ss Peter & Paul Church Hall, Great Bot-
ley Bring & Take
Sat 9th afternoon, WOCA, West Oxford Fun Day
Sat 9th from 6.30pm, Farmoor Summer Barbecue
Fri 15th 1.303pm, Pappo’s, West Way precinct, District
Councillors’ Surgery
Fri 22nd END OF TERM
Sat 30th 10.303pm, W.I. Hall, N Hinksey Lane, Quilling Open
Day and Workshops
All July and August, from July 4th, Roger Smith’s Exhibition for
Botley Arts at Ss Peter & Paul Church
End of July, Chris Andrews’ Romance of Oxford offer for Sprout
readers ends.
No U3A talks in July or August
August
Sat 6th 7pm, Farmoor Village Hall Race Night
Sun 14th 3-5pm, LM Pavilion, Arnold’s way, SPROUT AGM